A set of photos labeled “the cruelest punishment in history” shows employees of a Chinese company forced to eat bitter gourd in front of their coworkers as punishment for not meeting their sales goals.

At Leshang Decorations Corporation, a Chongqing-based company, employees whose weekly performance falls under the expectations of their superiors are forced to eat bitter gourd while their colleagues watch. If any of them spit the gourd during this humiliating experience, they are forced to eat even more of it. Apparently, the company came up with this cruel punishment as a way of “motivating” unproductive workers to push themselves harder, so they wouldn’t have to eat the bitter vegetables in the future.